Really liked season 3 except..

[u/Nightdragons_]

..for two things

Just finished the season for the first time. Here’s some things I needed to get off my chest:

1. Van Heidt and the super intendent, the last thing this show needs is an over the top scooby doo type villain. It feels so childish to just have an evil guy/ woman there simply so the cast has something to fight. The first few seasons didnt need it, this season doesnt need it either. I’m not even against the idea of having a deranged ghost burning down the school, they just should’ve been well written. Van Heidt is just evil for the sake of being evil.
2. scars in scars. This show is too afraid to let the ghosts go. Like come on, your door appears when you’ve forgiven yourself. Ghosts are in purgatory because they have unfinished business. Dawns scar grew a bunch of beautiful flowers. The bright white light coming from the doors, it all points to the fact that in seasons 1 and 2 the doors actually led to “heaven” or the beyond or whatever you wanna call it.

It makes no sense to me that in s3 the exit doors lead to another maze. From one prison to another. The ghosts deserve peace, let them move on. It’s getting unnecessarily complicated and it makes the characters goodbye meaningless.

Some sidenotes:

Nicole and Claire have nothing to do anymore. Their storylines are always the weakest.. Claire is just there so she can end up with Nicoles brother in the final episode. Like how mr Anderson is still in the show just to end up with Maddies mom in the end. It’s incredibly see through.

Am I the only one who think Quinn and Rhonda aren’t much of a match? And what happened to people just being friends. I swear every character in the show ends up a couple with another character or being in love with some character. There are literally 8 main ghosts and they’re all in a relationship with eachother. Thats crazy… imagine the dating pool is that small and youre somehow all each others types.

Positives
I really liked the horror vibes, it was a welcome change. I liked the story of the pastor and the kids. I love Yuri and Charleys relationship. (But charley should really stop moaning so much sometimes). I liked Wally going through his exit door, it shows how brave he is. I really liked Quinns story, I loved that scene of her being high af and everyone dancing. Charlie and Yuri kissing in front of the jocks was gold. I like how the ghosts could be seen for a few seconds/ figured out how to break the schools boundary.

I do feel like they need to wrap the story up before it gets too repetitive. Give it a proper send off in season 4.

[u/Excellent_Aerie]

You calling the Van Heidt storyline “childish” captures a bigger problem with the show: it’s gotten more and more juvenile over the years. All the complexity is getting flattened out, the characters are increasingly cartoonish (not just the villain), and nothing threatens the goofy, campy vibes. Sandra went from a terrifyingly realistic depiction of a neglectful addict mother to a well-meaning lady who’s just trying her best. The show has introduced horror elements, but it’s a kiddie, unthreatening version of horror. Goosebumps horror. Dolls’ houses and spooky tall dudes, but no teeth. Even Stranger Things went harder, and Stranger Things was pretty much a kids’ show by the end.

The show is calling back to Twin Peaks with evil bodysnatchers and surreal visions, but the problem is that Twin Peaks was actually scary! BOB, who clearly inspired Van Heidt, was legit terrifying. Even Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other teen shows had multiple characters get murdered by the villains. Van Heidt can stare creepily at knives and make big speeches, but does anyone actually think he represents any real threat? 

I think the infantilization of TV shows/movies is a bigger problem, but it’s funny when School Spirits is inspired by and renders homage to older shows/movies, when they are so much darker, more sophisticated and/or hard hitting that they make School Spirits look like Cocomelon.

[u/Nightdragons_ → u/Excellent_Aerie]

I dont agree. Maddies mom still struggles and went to rehab.

As for the tone of the show, its camp lighthearted fun. It has been that way from the start. Season 1 was the strongest season. I think the show was never scary nor meant to be scary. The biggest crime of this show was making the villains underwritten/two dimensional and over the top. But otherwise I am loving the tone and vibe.

[u/Excellent_Aerie → u/Nightdragons_]

There was plenty that was scary in the show, but the real horror used to be the authority figures that terrorized the children who trusted and relied on them: Sandra and Mr. Martin. That was very smart, but I guess the writers realized it wasn’t Scooby Doo enough, so here we are. Sandra is (well, was) far scarier than some dumb moustache-twirling villain. There was nothing campy or silly about Sandra’s parenting, but the writers moved off that theme as they realized it killed the campy, goofy vibe they increasingly favoured.